Portable Webserver

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Self-Hosted

Portable Webserver Alternatives

23
Options
Considered
2021-11-24
Last
Updated

#1 Apache HTTP Server

Free
Open Source
Linux
Windows
FreeBSD
Mac
Online

Apache HTTP Server is an open-source web server that delivers web content through the internet. It’s more flexible than many other alternatives due to its mod_perl support, which means you can edit your website code on the fly without having to recompile your whole system.

Apache servers are capable of serving both static files such as images, JavaScripts, or PHP’s SQL queries as well as dynamic content such as PHP scripts that do calculations. It also features SSL support so you can encrypt the data being transmitted privately via HTTPS. Another function of this platform includes it has a faster connection than IIS, and because it’s based on UNIX architecture, it’s much more stable than Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

#2 BitNami Application Stacks

Free
Open Source
Linux
Mac
Windows
Github
Online

BitNami Application Stacks is an easy-to-use software that lets you create custom stacks for Java, Ruby, and Python and deploy them easily on any cloud platform. It is important to remember that most languages require an installation process or similar set-up steps before they can be used in your stack. The main function of this platform includes it facilitating the new coders to try out the different languages and see which ones they prefer, capable of serving web pages to non-Linux users as well as those who use Linux distributions and many others.

BitNami Application Stacks can help you quickly and easily create a database and new website. It creates the database on the fly and then creates a blank site for you, and walks you through creating and configuring your site.

#3 Caddy

Free
Open Source
FreeBSD
Linux
Mac
Windows
Github
Online

Caddy is the fastest, most reliable server software that is perfect for a single developer or managing web infrastructure for large organizations with 100s of servers. Whether you want to speed up development cycles or make your site faster globally, it is easy enough to set up on any operating system that it can be up in minutes. As a complete web server with an HTTP/2 universal pluggable transport protocol engine built in.

Moreover, Caddy offers the best of both worlds like low overhead GC-based concurrency and full-featured HTTP/2 web server engine, all without external dependencies. It provides a fast, consistent way to serve static files on the web that is totally based on draft-ietf-httpbis-p6-caching , defines an extension to Full Duplex HTTP/2 for Caching Mode, which allows clients to cache responses.

#4 Winginx

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Self-Hosted

Winginx is an open-source Linux distribution, which provides an easy way to set up a fast and reliable local web server for testing your projects without the need to install additional software. It is based on Nginx with additional support for MySQL, PHP, MongoDB, Redis. It comes in three flavors: Basic, Standard having NginX modules for OpenSSL encryption support, and premium that includes PHP PEAR modules.

Winginx is a multi-threaded Apache-compatible web server that uses a high-performance event notification mechanism that delivers high efficiency and a high signal-to-noise ratio. It provides a search utility that is designed to find what you are looking for quickly within one or two clicks. It also can search through all databases, not just one at a time like phpMyAdmin. With the help of its powerful task manager, it allows you to start the task and track the task time. Moreover, you can also keep all the important files that are associated with the project to prototypes and documentation.

#5 LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS)

Paid
Proprietary
Fedora
FreeBSD
Linux
Ubuntu
Online

LiteSpeed Web Server (LSWS) is a proprietary web server software. It includes all the common web technologies like Apache, CGI, MySQL, PHP, and various other scripting languages. It also has an integrated caching system that dramatically increases website loading speed by saving copies of images and files stored on the server to the client at the same time as their download request is made. The cache can be set up with disk space quotas or removed manually with any changes to content made on the original site.

The main function of this platform includes quickly loading the configuration files directly and effortlessly working as a drop-in replacement for Apache; it is fully integrated with all the control panels and utilize an event-driven approach to handling all the important request, which is not present in any other traditional alternative. You can also check the license status in real-time and easily switch between Apache and LSWS with a single click.

#6 AppServ

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Online

AppServ is a series of scripts that you can install on a UNIX box with PHP and MySQL. It makes setting up, configuring, and maintaining websites based on CMS software a lot easier for people without much technical know-how. It provides you an opportunity to back up your files to another directory when they change and automatically delete old backups that haven’t been viewed in over about six months.

The highlighted function of this platform includes support up to 4 websites using their own database, a better interface for adding and removing databases than phpMyAdmin, will check for upgrades to any software installed and notify you if there is one available, will check all the software you are using for new versions. For example, if it finds a new version of WordPress available, it will let you know and install the new version automatically.

#7 USBWebserver

Free
Proprietary
Linux
Mac
Windows
Android
Tablet
Online
Self-Hosted
Github

USBWebserver is a combination of popular webserver software: Apache, MySQL, PHP, and phpMyAdmin. There are many Webhosting providers that provide different packages for all these components. For instance, if you want to move your website away from the hosting provider, then it can take several hours just to get everything changed. The purpose of this software is to make hosting systems independent of the web hosting provider and also make it easy to remove software if it is necessary for whatever reason.

USBWebserver can be run as a server on its own or as a web server that sits on top of any other web server and can be controlled through a web interface or by command line parameters. It can be configured to start or stop once you connect to the console. If the console is disconnected for over three minutes, then USBWebserver will shut down and not restart until you reconnect to the console.

#8 Denwer

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Self-Hosted

Denwer is the open-source software package to debug websites under Win32, Linux, Unix, Macintosh machines. It typesets HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code which can be viewed by any agent. It is extremely useful for programmers who work with web-programming languages like HTML5, CSS3, JQuery/JavaScript/Ajax projects either on Windows machines or remotely for debugging purposes.

Denwer supports many languages, so you can choose which language to type the source code in. To start using Denwer, first, you should need to know at least one programming language so you can type your code in it. Your program will be executed, though, if you click on Initialize, then open a browser that goes with the server you have chosen, then type in the URL of your website and hit Enter key to test it out. There are other features such as static file serving, HTTP graceful shutdown, and more.

#9 XAMPP

Free
Open Source
Linux
Mac
Windows
Online
Portableapps.com

XAMPP is a user-friendly software that allows you to build WordPress site offline and test the created site without any disturbance. It comes with a number of effective modules such as OpenSSL, phpMyAdmin, MediaWiki, Joomla, WordPress, and more. It aids the programmer to test their work on their computers without any access to the Internet and cover special options to serve web pages with a single click.

With the help of its strong encryption option, it lets you protect your configuration files with a strong password or touch ID so that no one can access them without taking permission. After launching the software, it displays the different tools which are present in the form of categories, helping you to use them according to your requirement.

#10 MAMP

Freemium
Proprietary
Mac
Windows
Android
iPhone
Tablet
iPad
Online

MAMP is cost-effective software that is directly installed on your operating system, providing a comprehensive list of tools that are required to run WordPress for testing or development processes. It aids you to easily test your projects on mobile devices no matter you prefer the webserver like Apache or Nginx and MySQL. The stunning function of this platform includes it comes with a one-click solution for setting up your personal web server, aids you to set up and run the database server with a single click, comes with text editor enabling you to insert information in your database without any disturbance.

With the help of its powerful development tool, it persuades you to create your own web or mobile application and publish them in famous stores. Other stunning functions are it comes with a modern scanning tool, ensuring you locate the vulnerabilities or weaknesses in your project in less than a second.

#11 WampServer

Free
Open Source
Windows
Linux
Online

WampServer is an all-in-one web development environment software that allows you to easily create web applications with Apache2, PHP, and a MySQL database. The main advantage of this platform is the Apache HTTP server which is especially utilized by the developers to test the webpages or web browsers before publishing on the Internet. After scanning any application or browser, it displays the results in the side panel in the form of attractive graphs or colorful charts, making you identify & eliminate all the errors with a single click.

Other function of this platform includes each release of Apache, MySQL, and PHP has its own settings and its own files, special tray icon to manage your server and its settings, you can manage multiple databases with the single tab which is not present in any other traditional software.

#12 Laragon

Free
Open Source
Windows
Github
Online

Laragon is one of the centralized, isolated, or portable software that is designed for development or testing the webpage or application before publishing on the Internet. After launching the software, it displays the different testing tools for PHP, Node. Js, Python, Java, Go, Ruby, and many other languages. The highlighted function of this platform includes you can change the URL format according to your taste, automatically create a database correspond to project name, compress files from remote servers will be stored in the form CSV file for future purpose, aid you to add packages with the other database system or programming languages, and many others.

With the help of its smart editor, it persuades you to edit the configuration file and update the downloaded links for your needs. Other hot function of this platform includes you can share the URLs to your friends or customers and display generated email info in a small window on the bottom right of your screen.

#13 Zend Server

Free
Open Source
Mac
Windows
Github
Linux
Online

Zend Server is one of the versatile PHP development programs that is fully integrated with the PHP stack and fully compatible with professional debugging or monitoring tools. Through its built-in dubbing tool, it sends queries to your development browser and gets in-depth reports in the form of attractive charts or colorful graphs. The notable function of this platform includes you can automate your workflow, perform consistent configurations and avoid service disruptions; it simplifies the complex clustering for attaining fast performance and protect your system from unnecessary server instances.

With the help of its speed performance function, it easily identifies the bottlenecks and manages the load balancing, job queries, caching, and session clustering. Another function of this platform includes you can save your development time by using more than 75 API extensions and application plugins.

#14 EasyPHP

Free
Open Source
Windows
Online
Github

EasyPHP is one of the powerful software that allows you to host your websites, files, applications and make them accessible from the internet. It is written in PHP, so it is compatible with PHP version 5.3 up to the current releases of the language. The attractive function of this platform includes it comes with a range of tools that can help you manage your website, special support for MySQL / Oracle, PostgreSQL, WebDAV, SSH access, HTTP Authentication, and cookie-based login, helps you create web pages with ease for better sales, higher visitor engagement & more conversions, use EasyPHP with other languages such as Perl, Python, Ruby, and many others.

EasyPHP is also acting as website development software having multiple functions like designing website layouts, coding website codes, and creating website code. Another function of this platform includes you can easily manage all of your Laravel projects from one page and entitles you to test your on your system with a single click.

#15 AMPPS

Free
Proprietary
Linux
Mac
Windows
Online

AMPPS is best-in-class web development software that comes with the full-stack of Apache, Mysql, PHP, Perl, Python, and Softaculous, allowing you to create websites, intranet systems, and online stores. It comes with more than 419 PHP web applications, 1000 PHP classes and is supported by six versions of PHP, which can be utilized by both big enterprises and beginners without any restrictions on the number of sites or the complexity of your customizations. AMPPS has many built-in features, which will simplify your work.

The key feature of this platform includes it automatically create a production-ready cloud environment, covers several pre-configured software components set up in an optimal configuration for best performance, fully compatible with all the most popular web hosting services, such as cPanel, Plesk, Softaculous, and others, lets robust suite of application development tools for designing, building, and maintaining large scale applications and many more.

#16 Lando

Free
Open Source
Linux
Mac
Windows
Github
Online
.NET Framework
Drupal
Java
PHP
React
Vue JS
WordPress

Lando is an all-in-one web development platform that automates the process of setting up and deploying your apps as well as provides tools for managing them with a single click. You can build production-ready applications in just minutes without having to worry about installing or configuring software or system libraries. With the help of its command-line interface, all that is needed for deployment is placed into a container and pushed to a registry so it can be deployed to an environment such as staging or production.

The interesting function of this platform includes it is connected to excellent Heroku Postgres service, so you can create and edit Postgres databases right within your application, minimal learning curve enabling you to get started building, testing, and deploying modern applications in very little time and many others. Another function of this platform you can also push these apps up to a remote registry so that they can be deployed to any number of environments, from testing to production.

#17 The Uniform Server

Free
Proprietary
Windows
Online
Github

The Uniform Server is one of the unique development platforms that is specially designed to automate the process of developing web applications. It covers a complete suite that includes both developer tools and cloud hosting, balancing ease of use with professional-grade power. The main characteristics of this platform include it acts as a bridge that fills the gap between website developers and designers by automating many routine tasks associated with creating a new website or updating an existing one, provides web developers with an automated infrastructure to create advanced websites and deliver high-quality content, supports a number of languages, including Ruby on Rails, PHP, Java, and .NET, compatible with server-side JavaScript libraries such as AngularJS and Ember.js and many others.

The Uniform Server has the ability to connect to your server automatically through your favorite interface, such as Curse Client, and automatically downloads the correct resource packs for your game, as well as provides you with all of the necessary information you require regarding configuring your server remotely.

#18 Abyss Web Server

Freemium
Proprietary
Linux
Mac
Windows
FreeBSD
Online

Abyss Web Server is one of the compact web servers that is directly installed on all operating systems, enabling you to run advanced PHP, Perl, Python, ASP.NET, and Ruby on Rails Web applications. The core functions of this platform include it doesn’t rely on any existing software such as CGI, PHP or MySQL, etc., with custom features built to dynamic power websites with high concurrency and high bandwidth requirements with an emphasis on security.

The server configuration can also be saved to a file, making the administrator use this information to set up the server quickly without having to manually edit files, create databases, and many others. Abyss Web Server comes with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing files (no FTP required) and changing the configuration of Abyss Web Server. The configuration data will be stored in a text file called “config,” which can be easily modified by anyone with limited knowledge of computers.

#19 DesktopServer

Freemium
Proprietary
Mac
Windows
SaaS
WordPress

DesktopServer is easy-to-handle website hosting and development software that aids you in creating WordPress sites by simply giving your site name. The classical function of this platform includes users can be created with a single click, and their login information can be set without any time-consuming editing of text files, a special option for the administrator to create a group of users with different permissions and roles for each group within the server, support any type of development project using Java to build small one page applications to large scale projects and many others.

With the help of its powerful automation function, it is fully automated with custom blueprints, making it import an existing site or deploy it to a live server in less than a second. Other hot functions are it aids you to create & manage different WordPress sites in real-time.

#20 UwAmp Server

Free
Proprietary
Windows

UwAmp Server is one of the versatile software stacks that are fully responsible for serving web pages and entitles you to create web applications with Apache2, PHP, and a MySQL database. The main function of this platform include it automates the PHP updates and patches, identifies the PHP errors, high memory usage, and slow request execution, record and analyze the specific sessions of every user without affecting server performance or exposing sensitive data, fully compatible with API extensibility to create customized applications or frameworks and many others.

With the help of its URL insight, it displays detailed insights about the specific URL in the form of attractive graphs or colorful charts, enabling you to analyze the PHP page traffic and performance with a single click. Another function for this platform includes automatically record and monitor event workflows and display the call tree for a selected event or trace file.

#21 Devilbox

Free
Open Source
Linux
Mac
Windows
Github

Devilbox is one of the professional development software that comes with a highly customized dockerized PHP stack supporting full LAMP and MEAN. It aids you to easily test your projects on mobile devices no matter you prefer the webserver like Apache or Nginx and MySQL. The stunning function of this platform includes it comes with a one-click solution for setting up your personal web server, aids you to set up and run the database server with a single click, comes with text editor enabling you to insert information in your database without any disturbance.

With the help of its strong encryption option, it lets you protect your configuration files with a strong password or touch ID so that no one can access them without taking permission. Other function of this platform includes each release of Apache, MySQL, and PHP has its own settings and its own files, special tray icon to manage your server and its settings, you can manage multiple databases with the single tab.

#22 SecureWAMP

Free
Open Source
Windows
Online

SecureWAMP is the next generation WAMP system that persuades you to set up a secure system and aids you to instantly combine Windows, Apache, MySQL, and PHP in seconds. The highlighted function of this platform includes you can change the URL format according to your taste, automatically create a database correspond to project name, compress files from remote servers will be stored in the form CSV file for future purpose, aid you to add packages with the other database system or programming languages, and many others.

With the help of its speed performance function, it easily identifies the bottlenecks and manages the load balancing, job queries, caching, and session clustering. Another function of this platform includes you can easily manage all of your Laravel projects from one page and entitles you to test your on your system with a single click.

#23 Fenix Web Server

Free
Open Source
Mac
Windows
Github
Online

Fenix Web Server is software that helps developers or designers to run applications on one or more static web servers and work on multiple sites. The main advantage of this platform is the Apache HTTP server which is especially utilized by the developers to test the webpages or web browsers before publishing on the Internet. After scanning any application or browser, it displays the results in the side panel in the form of attractive graphs or colorful charts, making you identify & eliminate all the errors with a single click.

Other function of this platform includes each release of Apache, MySQL, and PHP has its own settings and its own files, special tray icon to manage your server and its settings, you can manage multiple databases with the single tab which is not present in any other traditional software.